Several horses remained at the stables and were being looked after by estate staff who were assisting owners collecting their animals.

The hearing was told Frank Carberry had turned up at the stables at 8am on October 1 last year and shouted: “I’ve come for my horses. You’ve got my....horses.”

He and his daughter then broke into the yard by kicking the gate’s lock loose and confronted Martin Sutton, who was employed by Gisburn Park Estate to look after the stables, Stephen Orrell, a general handyman and Peter Nolan, who was visiting the site.

Mr Sutton, a retired detective inspector with Greater Manchester Police, told the court he had heard two screams from Mr Orrell calling for him and he rushed out to see what was going on.

Mr Sutton said: “I realised that something was wrong and I saw them coming towards me.

“The man asked me who I was and what I was doing here and then, before I could answer, started to hit me with his walking stick.

“I moved closer to him to try and make him stop.

“He hit me three times and then he pulled out a knife and started slashing it through the air four or five times.

“It was a vicious and unprovoked attack.”

Peter Nolan, who had been asked to attend the stables on that morning to advise on the installation of a CCTV system, told the court he was hit over the head with a chain by Nekole and then further attacked by Frank Carberry.

He said: “I heard a man with a Scottish accent shouting and I came out of the house to see what was going on.

“The next thing I knew I was hit over the head with a chain by a woman.

“The man was wielding his stick and was very animated and it was like he was on a mission.

“I never realised that people could use such violence.

“I remember being clubbed on the shoulder and the back.”

Mr Nolan said that he had suffered from eye problems and a ‘constant ringing noise’ in his head since the attack.

Mr Orrell, who had been attacked first, said: “I had been asked to look after the animals and I stayed the night in my van.

“I was leaving to go home in the morning to brush my teeth when I saw a group of people approaching the gate.

“I diverted from the van to go and say good morning but was attacked by the man and the woman.”

Chris Hidderley, a stable hand who also gave evidence at the trial, said: “We had heard the night before that the Scottish Mafia were on their way down but that was just a rumour.

“We didn’t feel the need to change our plans or ask more people to come and be at the stables.

“I stayed with the horses throughout the incident as I was concerned for their safety.”

Frank Carberry, of Erroll Gardens, Glasgow, was found guilty of three charges of common assault at Blackburn Magistrates Court yesterday.

His daughter, Nekole Carberry, 27, of Wallace Gate, Bishopbriggs, was found guilty of two charges of common assault at the same hearing, despite not being present.

They are set to appear for sentencing on April 11 at Blackburn Magistrates.

According to court papers from an appeal hearing in 2013, press articles included a report from the Sunday Mail in 2000 which described Carberry as a ‘well-known gangster’.

It also described him as a ‘heavy;’ and ‘former associate of’ a well-known gangster.

A report from the Daily Record in 2001 referred to him as a ‘love rat gangster’ and repeated that information and quoted him as saying: ‘I have been involved in so many dark dealings with major crooks and hoodlums in the past, I am just surprised I am still alive’.

Frank Carberry was jailed for five years in 2006 for a string of gay sex attacks.

He assaulted three young men, including one at a Horse of the Year event.

The 54-year-old was also once banned from show-jumping for three years for punching a man.

Panama Sports Horses UK, which had room for 40 horses, was one of the stables to have trained horses for the Modern Pentathlon event at London 2012.